A New Kind of Padawan
by HopelessFangirl72
Summary: On Earth, while the first eps of the show are happening, a girl named Mindy Harris runs away from her abusive family after discovering mysterious powers. After a betrayal, Mindy makes a life for herself out in the forest. A few months later, a Starship crashes into the lake, containing a certain Togruta girl. Rated T for abuse, violence, and graphic scenes in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: The Runaway

Chapter 1: The Runaway

Mindy Harris, a 12-year-old girl who had been disowned by her parents, dragged her suitcase along the the sidewalk in the cold night air. Tears streamed down her face like a river. All of the abuse - physical or emotional- had finally gotten to be too much for Mindy. She still remembered what had happened that night between her and her parents that made her leave.

* * *

Mindy had been sitting at the kitchen table playing "Angry Birds," when she heard her parents' angry footsteps stomp through the doorway.

"Hey Mom, Dad," said Mindy. "What's up?"

"What's up? WHAT'S UP!?" her mom screamed. "Why haven't you done what we asked you to do!?"

Mindy's dad grabbed her arm and pulled on it hard.

"OW! Dad, please!" Mindy begged. "You're hurting me!"

"Please, Mindy," her dad replied impatiently. "It's not like I haven't done it before."

"You were supposed to scrub up this wreck of a house by nine o'clock tonight, and it's about as clean as a FRICKIN PIGSTY!" her mom screamed.

"I DID clean the house, Mom!" Mindy said helplessly. "I scrubbed every nook and cranny!"

"Oh yeah? Then what's THAT!?" Mindy's mom pointed to a pile of mud and dirt and leaves and twigs. Mindy was aghast, her eyes wide in shock. Mindy tried to force some words out of her mouth, but before she could, she felt her mother's hand come in contact with her cheek.

Mindy now felt the tears come. And she felt the sobs creep up through her throat and out through her mouth.  
Her mom punched her hard in the stomach, while her dad held her back. Now Mindy was struggling to breathe also. Her dad threw her at the wall on the other side of the room, and Mindy struggled to sit up.

Her infuriated parents approached her once more. "You always were our little pain!" her mother shouted. "Why did you have to come into our life in the first place!? I never even wanted a child! I always thought they would be a nuisance! And I was right!" her mom said with disgust.

Her dad grabbed Mindy by the collar and yelled in her face, "WE HATE YOU! YOU KNOW THAT!? I WISH WE WOULD HAVE HAD A MISCARRIAGE!"

Just then, something inside Mindy had snapped. All those years of putting up with their abuse, their torture... Their hate. It hadn't really bothered her before except when she was a little kid and just getting used to it. And yet, for whatever reason, this was her breaking point. She wouldn't take it anymore.  
Suddenly, Mindy felt her burning anger mix with pain, as she began to have a headache. This kind of thing had happened frequently throughout her life, whenever she felt really strong emotions. But now, the headache was worse than Mindy could ever remember it being before. It was almost like someone was taking parts of her brain and mushing them together into one big organism.

Mindy's father had shouted something else at her, but Mindy never heard what it was, because what sounded like feedback was sounding in her head and it was getting louder and louder, while at the same time, Mindy grew angrier and angrier. It finally got so loud that Mindy couldn't even hear herself think as she said her goodbye prayers in her head.

And then... It **happened**.

Mindy let out a scream of pain and anger, as she felt a burst of energy emit from the kycenter of her forehead, and saw a blue ray of light heading toward her dad's face from that same spot. She then heard her dad scream, and drop her onto the floor with a loud thud.

Everything was black for about a split-second, then Mindy sat up, and her vision began to clear up.

The headache and feedback were gone, but Mindy was greeted with a sight that filled her with shock and horror. Half of her dad's face was now bloody and deformed. Mindy was speechless. Her mom glared at her while helping her dad to his feet.

Mindy dashed upstairs, pulled a rolling suitcase out of her closet and crammed as many of her belongings into it as possible. She couldn't stay there anymore. Not after that.

When Mindy came back downstairs, she saw her mom at the bottom of the stairs, holding her dad up, whose face was now bandaged.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going!?" her mom shouted.

"Anywhere that isn't here!" Mindy shouted back angrily.

"Oh no you DON'T!" her mom yelled angrily.

She tried to make a grab at Mindy, but Mindy was too quick. She swung her suitcase at her mother's face. Her Mom jumped back and almost dropped her dad, and Mindy had made her escape. A single tear fell down her face and into a puddle on the sidewalk as the flashback ended.

* * *

Mindy's suitcase got caught in a crack in the sidewalk and would not budge. Mindy tried to pull it free, but she lost her balance and fell to the ground.  
Mindy's sobs became more evident, as she sat up and cried.

"Well," she said between sobs. "My family disowned me, and nobody wants me. What could probably get worse about my life!?"

And then it started to rain.

Mindy buried her head in her hands and cried harder than ever.


	2. Chapter 2: Sadie

Chapter 2: Sadie

Mindy cried and cried and couldn't stop. She had never felt so alone before. Suddenly, she heard someone step in front of her.

"Hey," a voice said.

Mindy's sobs subsided. "Who are you?" she asked the stranger.

"The name's Sadie," the girl answered. Mindy could tell it was a girl by the way she looked.

She had blonde hair, like Mindy, but lighter and longer, flowing all the way down her back. Her eyes were a light blue. She looked to be about 13, a year older then Mindy, tall and thin and beautiful.

She wore on her body a t-shirt with a sleeveless jean jacket, and also an extremely short pair of shorts.

Sadie held her right hand out to Mindy, either to shake Mindy's, or to help her up (Mindy didn't know which).

"Who are you?" Sadie asked.

Mindy hesitated a bit before answering. "Mindy. Mindy Harris."

Mindy took Sadie's hand and Sadie helped her up.

"Nice to meet you, Mindy," said Sadie.

"You too," Mindy replied.

There was a moment of silent awkwardness between the two girls. Then Sadie couldn't put up with it anymore, and got another conversation rolling with Mindy by asking, "So, Mindy, how'd you end up out here with those bags and everything?"

Mindy told Sadie everything that had happened that night and was in tears again by the time she finished. Sadie paused. She looked saddened, as if she were remembering something painful for a moment. Then she spoke.

"Oh. Wow. I-I'm sorry that that happened to you."

Mindy felt guilty. She shouldn't have told Sadie all that stuff. It was obviously way too personal for Sadie to handle.

"I have a place where you can stay," Sadie said. "At least until you feel good enough to be on your own."

"Oh, you don't have to do that for me, Sadie," said Mindy.

"I know! I know!" Sadie said, and suddenly bounced back to her perky self that Mindy had met. "But I want to!"

"Well, okay..." Mindy said. "I guess I can stay for a few days."

"Great!" Sadie said happily. "Let's go!"

Mindy glanced back at her suitcase, hesitant to follow Sadie. What if she couldn't trust Sadie? What if this was all just a trick? Mindy couldn't risk being deceived into loving someone again.

Sadie stopped walking. She was several feet ahead of Mindy.

"Well, come on! The place ain't gonna wait for itself!" Sadie called.

Mindy decided to trust Sadie. She was silly to think this girl would ever try to hurt her. So Mindy picked up her bags and ran to catch up with Sadie, who ran down a dark alleyway until they reached a dumpster.

"I actually forgot to mention," Sadie said. "I live here."

In a dumpster? Mindy thought.

Sadie pushed the dumpster aside with all her might, revealing a small opening in the wall.

"Come on!" Sadie waved her arm to Mindy. They crawled through the opening, Mindy dragging her luggage behind her.

Sadie finally stopped, with Mindy close behind. Once she crawled in and stood up, Mindy looked around the place. It was an actual small room with a bed, a desk, an uncomfortable looking couch, and a small kitchen area.

"It's not much, really," Sadie said. "But it's usually enough to hold me over."

"It's actually really impressive," Mindy said.

"Thank you," Sadie replied.

Mindy set her luggage down and realized for the first time all night how tired she was. All the crying must have tired her out. She yawned and went to go sleep on the couch.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sadie asked.

"Well..." Mindy said, gesturing to the couch. "I'm the guest, so I figured I should-"

"Oh, take my bed," Sadie said.

"What? But it's-"

"I know it's my bed, but you're the one who was out in the rain," said Sadie.

"That's a good point, I guess," replied Mindy.

Sadie chuckled. Mindy got undressed.

"Oh, and don't worry about putting on your PJ's," Sadie added. "We usually like to laze around in our undies all day."

"What do you mean 'we?'" Mindy asked.

"Oh, my friend usually likes to come hang over here," Sadie replied.

"Oh," said Mindy. "Are they nice?"

"Yeah," said Sadie. "I think you'll like him."

"Okay," Mindy said, yawning again. She climbed into Sadie's bed and Sadie plopped down on the couch.

"Sadie, will I ever be happy again? Will I ever...heal from this...?" But before Mindy's question could be answered, she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, Mindy woke up feeling well-rested and completely re-energized. She was still depressed from the previous night, but now she was ready for a new life with Sadie and whoever her friend was.

She sat up and stretched. Sadie, who had obviously been making breakfast, turned around and looked at Mindy.

"Hey, Mindy," Sadie said.

"Good morning, Sadie," Mindy replied, as she got out of bed and walked toward the small coffee table and sat down on one of the pillows used for chairs.

"Here," Sadie said, as she slid a plate of pancakes in front of Mindy. "I hope you like pancakes."

"Oh, I do!" Mindy exclaimed. She picked up her fork and knife and began to slice the large pancake into a smaller, individual piece.

"Hey, uh, Mindy?" Sadie asked as she sat down across from Mindy.

"Yeah?" Mindy replied with a mouthful of pancake.

"Remember that friend I told you about last night?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's coming over today."

Mindy stopped. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, baby!" Sadie said. "He should be here in about an hour."

Just then, someone pounded on the door and shouted, "Hey, yo, Sadie! Open up!"

"Already? Jesus, he's early!" said Sadie, as she got up and crawled through the opening. Mindy heard her push aside the dumpster and say, "Hey, Josh!"

Then she heard a deeper voice reply, "Heya, Sadie!" She heard a series of slapping hands doing what she could only assume was a secret handshake of some sort.

"Come on! I got someone I want you to meet!" Sadie said excitedly.

"Okay..." the voice said suspiciously. With that, Sadie reentered the room with a boy.

He was tall, and looked to be about 14. He had short, brown hair, and wore a blue t-shirt, gray jeans, and black converse.

"So, you wanted to introduce me to someone?" the boy asked.

His voice was deep and attractive. Mindy tried her best not to swoon.

"Oh yeah!" Sadie said. "Josh, this is Mindy. Mindy, Josh."

"Hiya Mindy!" said Josh.

"...Hi," Mindy replied shyly. Even she knew how pathetic she sounded.

"How'd you end up here with Sadie?" Josh asked. Mindy started to tell the story, and when it got to painful to continue, Sadie finished it for her. Mindy was grateful to have Sadie around when that happened.

"Wow, Mindy," Josh said when the girls finished. "That's intense."

"Yeah," Mindy replied sadly. Sadie prevented a painful silence by saying, "So, Josh, what's up?"

"Well, the police closed up my place, so I kinda need a place to crash for a while," Josh replied.

"No prob," said Sadie. "You know where the sleeping bag is."

"You're the best, Sadie!" said Josh.

"Aw, you're just saying that!" Sadie replied teasingly.

"Oh no, madam," said Josh, with a rather bad French accent. "You are magnificent!"

"Thanks, Josh," Sadie replied, and turned back to Mindy. "So, Mindy, if you're done with your breakfast, are you ready to PARTAY!?"

Minutes later, the three were dancing around like complete idiots in their underwear to dubstep. And Mindy enjoyed every single second of it.

* * *

Over the course of the next few months, Sadie taught Mindy all the tricks she at least knew on how to have a thicker skin to survive the coldness and harshness of the world. And even though some of the concepts were hard for Mindy to get at first, she eventually learned them. Mindy's crush on Josh also got bigger, too, especially when he had his shirt off, which was almost every second of every day. But whether she had a crush on Josh or not, Mindy was happy. She was happy to have such good friends who cared about her. And she was one of the happiest people in the world, she thought. At least...for now.


	3. Chapter 3: Robberies and Traitors

Chapter 3: Robberies and Traitors

One night, Sadie approached Mindy and asked, "Hey, Mindy, you wanna go out with us somewhere?"

"Heck yeah!" Mindy replied. She had never gone out anywhere with Sadie and Josh before. They had always just gone out together to go get groceries or something and Mindy had always stayed home because Sadie didn't want anything to happen to her. Now that she was finally being offered the chance to go with them, Mindy wondered where they were going.

"Alright, then," Sadie replied. "Get dressed. I'll tell Josh you're coming with us."

"Okay," said Mindy. And with that, Sadie walked off and whispered something to Josh. Mindy strained to hear, but couldn't.

A moment later, Sadie and Josh turned back to Mindy, and Sadie said, "'K Mindy, let's all get ready to go. Get dressed and we'll head out soon." Mindy did just that, as she pulled a pink t-shirt and some black leggings out of her suitcase.

As she was putting on her red converse, Mindy thought she heard something like crying coming from behind the sink. Josh wasn't paying any attention, so she decided to creep over and look. She peered over the counter to see, to her shock, that it was Sadie crying.

Mindy saw Sadie bent over something small that she held in her hands. Sadie sat up to look at the small object and Mindy saw that it was a picture frame of two people; what Mindy knew at once were Sadie's parents.

Suddenly, Sadie's mood changed. The teenage girl became extremely angry. She thrust the picture frame away from her and rubbed her temples before grabbing something off a shelf. It was a little pill bottle. Sadie took a handful of pills and shoved them down her throat. Mindy was shocked. How long would Sadie be able to survive on that amount of pills?

Mindy could tell that Sadie was about to get up again, so she quickly walked back to the bed and pretended she hadn't seen anything.

"Everyone ready?" Sadie asked.

"Yep!" said Josh.

"Yeah," Mindy said.

"Great!" said Sadie, grabbing her purse. "Then let's go." And then they headed out.

* * *

After a lot of walking, the three kids finally reached a house. Mindy was confused.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"Oh, don't worry, Mindy," Sadie said.

"This is just...uh..."

"Just what?"

"Just how we get our stuff we need to survive," Josh finished.

"Yeah, thanks Josh," Sadie replied, and Josh grinned in response.

"So, why don't you go in first just so you can get the hang of it?" said Sadie.

"Okay," said Mindy. She spotted a window and went to climb inside. As she grabbed onto the handle to open the window, she glanced back at Sadie and Josh, who were watching from a bush. Josh grinned and Sadie waved.

Mindy turned back and forced the window open. There was a loud bang. Mindy quickly slid in.

From what Mindy could make out of the house from the light flowing in from the street lamps, she was in a kitchen. But the place seemed eerily familiar.

She turned around to try to get a better look around, when suddenly the lights clicked on.

"What are you DOING here!?" a shrill female voice shouted. Mindy recognized the voice immediately and was chilled to the bone when she heard it. She spun around in horror to discover the angry faces of her parents.

Mindy was speechless.

"Why did you come back?" Mindy's dad growled angrily.

"Please, Mom! Dad!" Mindy begged. "I didn't know!"

"Maybe you should have known then!" Mindy's mom shouted angrily.

She whacked Mindy hard across the face. Mindy fell to the floor. From outside, Sadie looked horrified. Mindy tried to will herself to stand up, but it was too tough. Her father kicked her in the stomach.

Mindy then experienced a long and hurtful beating from both of her ex-parents. It soon got to a point where Mindy could barely make out anything in front of her from both tears and sheer pain.

Mindy's dad moved in for the final blow. But suddenly, Mindy felt the feedback and headache from that one night come back again.

Oh no, Mindy thought, before she was consumed by rage and sadness, unable to control it.

She was suddenly given an incredible amount of strength. Mindy sprang to her feet and punched both of her parents in the face with incredible speed and accuracy.

Sadie and Josh had seen the whole thing from the outside and watched in shock and horror, Sadie especially.

"I hate you, too," Mindy spat at her now unconscious parents. Then she came back to her senses, terrified at the sight.

"What have I done?" Mindy began to cry again.

Then she was angry. Sadie had betrayed her! She didn't at all intend to help Mindy heal, she had only been trying to break her more than she already had been! Mindy was heartbroken. She felt herself slip into anger. How could Sadie have taken advantage of her like this for so long. When she found Sadie, Mindy would... She didn't know what she would do, but it wouldn't be pretty.

She marched back toward where Sadie and Josh were hiding, where Josh was trying to comfort Sadie. "It's alright," he was saying. "You didn't know." He had his arm wrapped around Sadie, who had her head buried in her hands. The fact of the matter was that Sadie had never meant for any of this to happen. Yes, she was going to have Mindy break in to a house and steal things, but she never could have predicted that it would be Mindy's parents' house that Mindy would be breaking into. And for that matter, she had no idea of the abuse Mindy would suffer when she did. This is why she almost cried when Mindy approached the two angry and broken.

"How could you!?" Mindy yelled. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Please, Mindy!" Sadie said. "I didn't know!"

"You KNEW!" Mindy shouted. "And you didn't care that you knew what would happen!"

"It was an accident!"

"It was completely intentional!" Mindy shouted between sobs. She paused.

"Mindy," Sadie said. "Please, I didn't mean to cause you any harm. Sure, this went way wrong, but there's always next time, right?"

Mindy didn't respond. "Right?" Sadie asked again.

"No," Mindy simply replied, and bowed her head. The feedback and headache were coming back again and this time they were stronger than ever.

"Look, I know I screwed up, but-"

"I said **NO**!" Mindy screamed, and fired a blue beam at Sadie from her eyes. The beam struck Sadie in the face and the teenager fell to the ground.

"SADIE!" Josh screamed, as he ran to her side. Mindy came back to her senses. She couldn't stick around and watch this happen. It was too painful.

So she started running.

She ran and ran without even really knowing where she was going. Soon enough, she reached the alleyway where she had been living with Sadie and Josh for months now.

By the curb was motorcycle that had been tipped over on its side. Beside it lay its owner, a biker man, passed out. Mindy threw a quick glance at the two before running down the alleyway as fast as she could, until she reached the dumpster, upon which she pushed it aside and crawled through the opening.

She stuffed all her things into her bag, and also grabbed a few things from the cupboards for food. Then she grabbed everything she had brought with her and crawled through the opening with it, only to find Josh waiting at the entrance, holding Sadie's corpse.

"**YOU!**" he shouted. "Why have you come back, you _monster_!?"

"I can't stay!" Mindy sobbed. "I came to get my stuff!"

"Then GO!" Josh yelled. "Before I call the cops!"

"You wouldn't, Josh!"

"I would! You killed her, Mindy! Murdered her in cold blood!"

"It was an accident!" Mindy said desperately.

"I don't believe you!" Josh shouted. "**I HATE YOU!**"

Mindy stopped. Here was her crush for the past several months telling her how much he now hated her right in front of her.

"Fine!" Mindy shouted. "I'll just take my things and go!" She headed toward the motorcycle, when she felt Josh's arm swing into the back of her head.

"Not until I'm done with you!" he said.

Josh threw another punch at Mindy, but Mindy dodged it. Josh tried to kick Mindy in the stomach, but she quickly dodged and brought the motorcycle to its feet.

She kept dodging Josh's attacks as she put her luggage in a little compartment in the motorcycle, grabbed the helmet off the biker dude, put it on, and ignited the engine. Josh threw another fist, but this time Mindy caught it in her hand and tried to hold it back. Josh struggled against Mindy's grasp.

"This isn't what Sadie would have wanted!" Mindy shouted.

Josh stopped. Mindy hopped on the motorcycle. Josh appeared to be deep in thought and sorrow.

"Goodbye, Josh," said Mindy.

Josh didn't even reply as Mindy pulled away from the curb and drove into the night, tears streaming down her face and into the wind, as she sped away from the city of cruelty, never to return again.


	4. Chapter 4: In a galaxy far, far, away

Chapter 4: Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away...

Ahsoka Tano brought her Jedi Starfighter out of hyperspace and stared at the battle in front of her. Republic cruisers fired lasers at Separatist ships. Droids flew around the battlefield in the sky. Ahsoka looked around for the yellow Starfighter of her new master, Anakin Skywalker.

She found it speeding toward her, and heard her communicator inside the ship ring, indicating a holo-message, probably from her Master. She answered, and sure enough, Anakin flashed in as a mini hologram version of himself.

"So you finally made it to the party, eh Snips?" Anakin said.

"I like to be fashionably late," Ahsoka replied.

"Right," Anakin said sarcastically. "Anyhow, there's some droids flying around that need some taking care of. Are you gonna help me or not?"

"On it, Master," said Ahsoka. She followed Anakin's Starfighter toward the heat of the action.

"Master," Ahsoka said. "I thought we were going around the perimeters of the base, like Master Obi-Wan said."

"Master Obi-Wan was wrong," Anakin replied. "We're heading right into the core! Keep up, Ahsoka!"

Ahsoka tried to do just that, but Anakin was moving too fast. She was having a hard time keeping up.

"Skyguy, slow down," Ahsoka said, but Anakin wasn't listening. He was too caught up in the action. Ahsoka took out two droids that were flying towards them.

"Good job," Anakin said. "But can you top this?" He fired two missiles at a group of droids huddled together, and they instantly took the droids out.

"Show off," Ahsoka said.

"That's what you get for showing up late, Snips," Anakin replied jokingly.

Suddenly, another message came through Ahsoka's ship. It was clone Captain Rex.

"Padawan Tano, have you and General Skywalker reached the inside of the base yet?" Anakin answered for her."It's okay, Rex. We're working at it."

Ahsoka almost said something, but didn't. She and Anakin swerved their ships to the side, and they each took out two more droids.

As they swerved, a droid fired missiles at Ahsoka's ship. Ahsoka saw this and tried to shake the missiles.

"What are you doing, Ahsoka?" Anakin asked.

"They're coming after me, Master!" Ahsoka said. That's when Anakin saw the missiles heading toward his young Padawan.

"NO!" Anakin shouted, but it was too late. The missiles hit Ahsoka's ship without fail. The small beeping that was the alarm in the ship started going off. The inside of the ship began to fry, too, and Ahsoka was beginning to lose contact with both Anakin and Rex.

"Padawan Tano, are you there? Padawan Tano, please come in!" Rex shouted, before losing contact. Anakin was still there, though.

"Ahsoka? **AHSOKA**!" Anakin shouted, before the hologram faded away.

"Master! Wait! Don't go!" Ahsoka shouted, and banged her fist against the communicator, even though she knew it was hopeless. The smoke coming out from the fiery insides of the ship was starting to get in Ahsoka's eyes. She coughed, and thought she was going to die.  
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a blue planet. Ahsoka tried to steer her slowly burning ship toward the planet, but soon enough, lost control and was only falling. Falling.

As she got closer to the planet, she was able to see that she was falling toward a huge lake surrounded by some strange looking trees. Ahsoka began to get strategic. She planned that she would jump out of her ship once she got closer to the lake. But then she thought that maybe she wouldn't make it before she ran out of oxygen. So she kicked off the door to the ship and hopped out.

Ahsoka felt the air hit her face hard. She looked behind her to see her ship burning up. She could tell her Master would not be proud. Unfortunately, Ahsoka had not calculated out the kinks of her plan, because when she looked back she was heading straight toward a giant rock, not the water.

"NO!" she shouted, but it was too late. Ahsoka's head hit the rock, and she felt a cracking sensation in her head, as the edges of her vision began to go black. The last thing Ahsoka felt was the water of the lake swallow her, before everything went black.

* * *

Mindy crawled out of her tent in the forest and stared at her surroundings for the millionth time in the 4 months she had been there. She wondered if she had done the right thing by leaving Josh all those months ago. Then she got distracted by the fact that she was getting hungry. And thirsty.

"Where's my water cup?" Mindy mumbled to herself. She saw it on the little picnic table on her campsite, grabbed it, and headed toward the lake.  
Mindy tore through the trees and knelt by the lake to scoop some of the water into her cup. She drank so much of the water down that by the time she had finished, half of the cup was already empty.

Just to be safe, she swallowed the rest of the water and was about to refill the cup again, when she thought she heard something falling from the sky.

She looked up, gasped and stood up in shock and confusion. Falling down from the sky was a mysterious figure. A girl. Her skin was orange. Mindy just thought it was a major tanning accident. The girl also had some weird hairstyle, with white hair with blue stripes, and she wore a red strapless top and a skirt of the same color with purple tights underneath and red boots.

Who does that? Mindy thought.

But she didn't have time to wonder, as the girl was headed straight toward a huge rock in the lake.

"NO!" the girl shouted, before hitting her head against the rock. There was a loud cracking noise as she did. Mindy winced. She didn't like the sound of that! The girl then fell into the water.

"Oh my God!" Mindy said, even though she knew that the girl probably couldn't hear her. "Are you okay!?" Just when Mindy thought things couldn't get any more confusing, she heard something else falling from the sky.

This time it was a massive object, much larger than the mysteriously orange girl. It was red and white and burning. Mindy stood back, as the red and white object which she would come to know as a Jedi Starfighter crashed into the lake.

The ship created a huge splash as it landed. Mindy spat the water out of her mouth like a fountain. She was completely drenched.

"What the he-" She suddenly saw the mysterious orange girl starting to sink. If Mindy didn't hurry, the girl would drown while she was still unconscious.

"Hold on!" Mindy shouted, and gathered her breath and powered up her jetpack abilities. She had spent these months isolated in the forest mastering her new powers, even though she didn't entirely know what they were and what they were capable of yet.

Then she dove into the lake.

She turned on her night vision, since it was dark underwater, and began to search around. She found the girl seconds later, about to hit the bottom of the lake floor.

Mindy gasped and swam toward the girl. She grabbed her by the arms and began pulling her back to shore.

Once they were out of the water, Mindy breathed heavily, and lay the girl out on the shore to get a good look at her. She was a very pretty girl. She looked to be about 14 years old, with some strange white markings on her face. She had on a red uniform and combat boots. Mindy tried to pump whatever water was in the girl, out. She then performed CPR for 5 minutes.

The color was at least starting to come back to the girl's face. Mindy figured that waking up on the ground wouldn't be too comfortable for her new guest. So she retreated back into the forest thinking out loud, "I knew that extra sleeping bag would come in handy!"


	5. Chapter 5: Ahsoka Wakes Up

Chapter 5: Ahsoka Wakes Up

"Ugh..." Ahsoka moaned as her eyes fluttered open. Her head was pounding. "Where am I?"

"Oh, good. You're awake," a female voice said.

"What..." Ahsoka's voice trailed off. Her vision had not entirely cleared up yet.

"You fell from the sky," the voice said. "Suffered a pretty heavy blow to the head by a rock. You weren't moving at all. I personally thought you were dead, but look who's talking to you right now!"

The voice chuckled. Now Ahsoka's vision was starting to clear up. She was in a little clearing in a forest, and it was scattered with material items such as food, clothes, and other things natural to the environment she was in, like leaves and branches.

She also saw a short, blonde-haired figure standing before what looked like a bowl on a stand, but there was steam coming out from the top. That was the part Ahsoka didn't understand.

"But seriously," the girl said. "I was worried about you. You feeling alright?"

The girl turned around and looked at Ahsoka. "Yeah, I-" Ahsoka tried to sit up, but felt a searing pain where her head had hit the rock, screamed in pain, and her injury kept her pinned to the sleeping bag she had been placed in. The girl stopped what she was doing and ran to Ahsoka's side.

The girl pulled out what looked like an icepack seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to Ahsoka, before retreating back to the strange bowl contraption she was standing at a moment ago.

"It's an icepack, in case you couldn't already tell," the girl said. "Just place it wherever your head hurts."

"Thanks," Ahsoka replied, and she did just that, waiting a moment before she said, "Who are you?"

The girl stopped again, and turned to face Ahsoka. "Me?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, and what is this place?"

"What are you, an amnesiac or something?"

"No," Ahsoka replied. "What are you talking about? I haven't seen any place that looks like this before."

"Wow, you really don't know California too well, do you?"

"California?"

"Jesus, you act like you came from another galaxy or something!"

Ahsoka began to get frustrated. "Well, I'm just trying to find out where I am and if you're trustworthy!"

"Of course I am!" the girl snapped.

Ahsoka took a deep breath. "Alright. I'm sorry," she replied. "It's just... I don't remember anything that happened after I crashed into that rock. I thought maybe you were a threat."

The girl paused. "...No," she said. "Just plain old, nice old me"

"I see," Ahsoka replied. "Well, I'm obviously in no condition to go anywhere, so I guess I could stay with you for a while."

"Sure," the girl replied. "I mean, I've been out here for months, and I could use someone to talk to."

"Okay," Ahsoka said. She tried to sound official, like her Master.

"But if you're going to be taking care of me, I'm gonna need to know your name."

"Oh right! **DUH**!" the girl said. "I'm Mindy. Mindy Harris."

"I'm Ahsoka Tano," Ahsoka replied.

"Weird name," Mindy replied. "But a cool one! Nice to meet you, Ahsoka!"

Ahsoka smiled. "So, Ahsoka," Mindy said. "Where're you from?"

"I'm Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, from the planet Shili."

"Pada-what?" Mindy asked.

"Padawan," Ahsoka replied. "You know, Jedi-in-training?"

"What the heck is a Jedi?" Mindy asked.

"Oh boy, we have a lot a lot to talk about," Ahsoka said.

* * *

Mindy stood up and turned back to the grill. She did not really know if she could trust Ahsoka yet. What if she was just another traitor? Another person in her disappointing life that would only end up hurting her?

Not this time, Mindy thought. Not again.

The food looked about ready. A couple of salmon fished from the lake from earlier that day. Mindy personally didn't like eating meat because she didn't like the idea of killing innocent animals, but if she was going to survive, she was going to need to fry them up from wildlife. She lifted one salmon up with her spatula and transferred it over to a paper plate. She walked back over to Ahsoka and handed it to her.

"Want a salmon?" Mindy asked her.

"Sure," Ahsoka replied. She reached for the plate before stopping to ask, "What's a salmon?"

"It's a kind of fish," Mindy said.

Then Ahsoka took the plate and tried to sit up, but the pain reared its ugly head again. Instinctively, Mindy rushed over to Ahsoka, placed two fingers on her arm, and Ahsoka felt a healing sensation in her back, allowing her to sit up. She looked puzzled as Mindy backed away.

"What was that?" Ahsoka asked.

After a short pause, Mindy replied, "I don't know yet."

Over dinner - the sun had started to set - Mindy told Ahsoka all about her strange abilities.

"I don't even know where it came from," Mindy said. "But just one day, I felt something forming in my mind. Something powerful. Something massive. Something... other-worldly. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't know if I wanted to. But I spent my time out here learning to use it, and I've discovered some of the powers it has."

"Like what?" Ahsoka asked.

Mindy thought for a moment. "Name it," she said.

"Okay... um.." Ahsoka tried to think of a specific power. "Strength."

"Got it," Mindy replied.

"Speed."

"Got it."

"Invincibility."

"...Got it."

"You paused," Ahsoka said.

"No, I didn't!" Mindy replied. "Anyway, I still have no idea what this thing is, or of all of its powers. I think I've only discovered a few so far."

"A few of its powers?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes," Mindy replied. "And I've been calling it an 'ability tumor' for these past few months. Yeah, I'm sure it's called something WAY cooler in an alternate universe, but I'm calling it my ability tumor, because that's the kind of sick, twisted person I am."

"You're not sick, and you're not twisted," Ahsoka said, trying to re-encourage Mindy.

"I know, Ahsoka," Mindy said. "It was just a joke!"

"Oh," Ahsoka said, embarrassed.

"It's fine," Mindy said, sensing her embarrassment. She took her last bite of the salmon, and, not knowing what else to do, tossed its skeleton into the fire. It was now fully dark out, and Mindy was exhausted.

"Well," Mindy said. "I'm going to bed. You should, too. You're gonna need your rest for tomorrow."

"Why?" Ahsoka asked. "What's tomorrow?"

"Well," Mindy said. "I thought we could go looking for your 'ship'."

Ahsoka gasped. "Yes! Thank you!" She resisted the urge to hug Mindy. Jedi were not supposed to form attachments.

"Well, then, let's get some rest," Mindy said. "Here, help me lug your sleeping bag into the tent."

After Mindy had cleared off some space in the tent for Ahsoka, and gotten ready for bed, the two girls settled down for bed. Ahsoka fell asleep pretty quickly, but Mindy still had so many questions burning within. Who was Anakin Skywalker? Where did Ahsoka come from? And, more importantly, what was a Jedi?

There were a million other questions, but Mindy could feel her eyes closing more and more, and so she let sleep overtake her, and bring an end to her strange day.


	6. Chapter 6: The Dream

Chapter 6: The Dream

Mindy stared at her surroundings. The light was almost blinding. Mindy shielded her eyes, and when she took her arms away, she saw four figures in the distance, all of them getting closer with each step.

Soon enough, she recognized each of the figures in horror. They were her mother, her father, Sadie, and Josh. They surrounded Mindy on all sides so that she could not escape.

Mindy tried to conjure up her ability tumor powers, but she couldn't! They were gone!

Josh grabbed Mindy's arms and twisted them over her head and behind her back. Mindy hadn't even thought that was possible until now! She felt her dad punch her in the face and her mother grab onto her elbows. Mindy screamed in agony and pain. Sadie stepped in front of Mindy, blood dripping down her face from where Mindy had struck her 4 months ago, blood that was fresh and new. From what Mindy could tell, Sadie couldn't even speak real words anymore, only gibberish.

Sadie murmured indecipherable gibberish before shouting it in Mindy's face so loud she couldn't even hear herself think. Suddenly, everything stopped. Her parents backed away, and Josh let go of her arms, and also backed away until he and her parents faded away completely, leaving her and Sadie alone.

For a minute, nothing happened. Mindy stood there rubbing her sore arms, looking at Sadie, who was staring at her with intense eyes. Mindy glanced down.

Then, without warning, Sadie grabbed Mindy's neck and began choking her. Mindy saw the world spinning around her, colors spinning in a horrifying mix of tie-dye. Sadie had a demonic look on her face as she looked Mindy in the eyes. Sadie released her grip on Mindy's throat, and for a split-second, before Sadie completely let go of her throat, Mindy thought she saw Sadie's face morph into Ahsoka's face. The Ahsoka face smiled an evil smile at Mindy, as if to say, "I won't help you. I won't save you. I will only kill you, so give up now."

Then the face turned back into Sadie's, and the hand released its grip. Mindy fell. She fell into darkness. A bottomless black, empty pit where nothing ever had or would exist.

After falling for what felt like hours, Mindy reached the bottom of what she thought previously to be an endless fall. It was abrupt, and the ground below looked like gray asphalt. She felt a scraping feeling as she hit the ground, and then...

She opened her eyes and bolted upward. It had all been a dream.

Mindy looked around. She was back in the tent, in her sleeping bag, and it was still dark out. Mindy rubbed her eyes and looked over at Ahsoka. She was fast asleep, facing the wall of the tent.

Mindy was too afraid to fall back asleep, for fear of the same dream coming back again. She decided she needed a minute or two to think, so she got up, put on her bathrobe and slippers, and crawled out of the tent for some alone time.

* * *

Ahsoka woke up feeling a little better and a little refreshed, but there were still a few aches and pains everywhere. She looked over at Mindy, only to find that the 12-year-old was gone.

Where'd she go? Ahsoka thought.

She climbed out of the tent and looked around. There was no sign of her anywhere on the campsite. She looked around, noticed the trees, and suddenly she remembered the lake she had crashed down in.

She pushed her way past the trees and sure enough, saw Mindy sitting by the lake, the moonlight beautifully reflected off the body of water. Ahsoka sat down next to her.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," Mindy replied distantly.

"What are you doing out here so late at night?" Ahsoka asked.

"Oh, I just had a bad dream," Mindy replied. There was silence for a few seconds. Then Ahsoka said, "It's so beautiful. The lake, I mean."

"Yeah," said Mindy. "I usually come here when I feel depressed. Which, for me, is all the time."

"How come?" Ahsoka asked.

"Well..." Mindy said. She didn't respond for a minute, but then said, "Let's just say I'm not proud of my past."

"You sound like my Master," Ahsoka said.

"Really?" Mindy said.

"Yeah," Ahsoka replied. More silence. Then Mindy worked up the courage to ask:

"Ahsoka, where did you come from? Like, what planet? What place? What was your life?"

This time, it was Ahsoka's turn to pause for a moment before answering. She took a deep breath. Then Ahsoka began her story.

"I was born on the planet Shili into an era of war. When I was three, my parents abandoned me for no reason at all other than, "The War." I looked around, trying to find a new family, but no one wanted me. Finally, I just gave up and started living on the streets. Then, one day, a Republic cruiser showed up when the Separatists attacked. The Separatists are political enemies who turned against the Galactic Republic. Anyway, the Separatists attacked and destroyed much of our village. I was scared. I hid in a makeshift box in a dark alleyway which I had come to call my home. I was in there for hours until finally someone found me. It was Jedi Master Plo Koon, a defender of peace for the Galactic Republic. He convinced me that I could trust him, and he allowed me to go with him to the Jedi Temple to train to become a Jedi like him. I did, and I've been there ever since. I've also considered Master Plo my closest friend ever since. Only recently did I get assigned to Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker as his Padawan, and we were on a mission one day fighting the Separatists, when a missile hit my ship, and now, I'm here."

Mindy was speechless. Ahsoka was just like her.

"Wow," Mindy said. "I-I'm so sorry that happened to you, Ahsoka."

"It's all in the past now, Mindy," Ahsoka said. "Anyway, what's your story? Why are you out here all alone in the woods? Don't you have any friends, or at least, a family that cares about y-"

Ahsoka was cut off by Mindy's sobs.

"What's wrong, Mindy?" she asked.

Mindy tried to control her sobs enough to tell Ahsoka what was going on, but it was so hard to do that. Eventually, she regained control over her breath and began her story.

"I had a family...but they didn't love me. In fact, they wished they didn't even have a child. At every opportunity they got throughout my life, they would abuse me, physical or emotional, but mostly physical. They would always tell me how much they hated me. One night, several months ago, my dad took it too far, and told me that they wish they had a miscarriage. After that, I felt something inside me snap. I heard weird noises in my head, until I discovered my ability tumor for the first time when I struck my dad in the face. **I DIDN'T MEAN TOO! I JUST COULDN'T CONTROL MYSELF!**"

At this, Mindy was overtaken by another on spout of sobs. Ahsoka put an arm around Mindy.

"Calm down, Mindy," Ahsoka said, trying to sooth her. "What happened next?"

"I couldn't stay there any longer," Mindy choked out between sobs. "So I ran upstairs, packed my things, and I ran away from home. It wasn't 'till much long after that that I met a girl on the street who took me in, and gave me food, water, and a bed to sleep in. Her name was Sadie."

Mindy sobbed hard again and sunk into Ahsoka's hug, where she stayed for the rest of the story.

"The next day, her friend Josh came over, and we were friends right off the bat. He lived with us for that time that I was there and I didn't mind one bit. But then,** THAT DAY CAME.** _**THAT DAY!**_"

Mindy sobbed again, and after several attempts by Ahsoka to calm her down, she continued.

"They told me they were going out somewhere and offered me to come with them. I did, and they took me to a house to get supplies for themselves. But when I snuck in, I found out that it was my parents' house! They beat me up once more, but I got out of there, and I knew that Sadie had betrayed me! And... And..."

"And what?"

"And one thing led to another, and I ended up striking her with my ability tumor and killing her!"

Mindy collapsed into a heap in Ahsoka's lap, crying endless tears. Ahsoka tried to comfort her as best she could, but she didn't know how.

"Is that all?" Ahsoka asked after a long period of Mindy crying.

"No," Mindy replied. "There's more. I went back to the hideout we had lived in and packed my things, only to find that Josh had been waiting for me, with Sadie's corpse. He beat me up, but I stole a motorcycle and managed to get away. I've been out here ever since that thing ran out of gas."

Mindy cried harder than she had all night, and as Ahsoka tried to comfort her, she came to a realization in her mind: she _had_ to teach Ahsoka how to survive Earth! Ahsoka could never make it on her own, Mindy realized. She would be squashed and pummeled like she had been! Mindy couldn't let that happen, so she would take Ahsoka under her wing and tell her everything she needed to know about Earth. She told all this to Ahsoka, who said in response:

"I don't know, Mindy..."

"I have to do this, Ahsoka! Otherwise, if you go out there completely defenseless and get knocked down by the world, I'll never forgive myself! Besides, think of it as a chance to learn more about a place you've never been to before!"

"Well... I guess I could give it a try." Ahsoka said.

"Great! Mindy exclaimed. "We'll start lessons tomorrow! But I can't do it alone. We need some extra hands teaching you how to be a confident, sassy Earth girl! And I know just the chick!"

"Who?"

"She's one of my closest friends, and an expert in teaching you how to be sassy, and how to handle stuff similar to my experiences! But I know a lot more about culture here on Earth, as well as trends!"

"Okay," Ahsoka said. She was starting to warm up to the idea.

"Alright, so we'll go over to her house tomorrow and we can begin!" Mindy said. "In the meantime, tell me more about this Anakin guy."

And so they chatted on about each other's lives for the rest of the night. Mindy finally knew that she could trust Ahsoka. She was not another Sadie. She was a completely trusting, pure-hearted friend that had crossed her path. And since she had accepted this the moment Ahsoka had finished her story, she could just let the joy sink in even further as she watched the sun rise.


	7. Chapter 7: Anakin's Big Search

Chapter 7: Anakin's Big Search

"What's the status, Rex?" Anakin asked as he entered the holodeck.

"Not good, sir," Captain Rex of the clone army, replied. "We're not able to get a signal on Ahsoka's ship anywhere in the galaxy."

"Oh no," Anakin said.

"The same goes for her comlink, too. We've been trying to find any trace of her for the past week, but our efforts have been unsuccessful."

As Rex was talking, Anakin heard the door open behind him.

"Keep trying, men," said Anakin.

"Yes, sir," replied Rex.

Anakin turned around to see who it was that walked in. It was none other than Anakin's old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

"Master Obi-Wan," Anakin replied.

"Are you still searching for Ahsoka?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes," said Anakin. "I've been searching for weeks and I still can't find her."

"That's what I came to talk to you about," Obi-Wan said. "I've been speaking with the Council, and we think it may be best if you give up your search for Ahsoka."

"**What!?**" Anakin exclaimed. "She could be out there almost on the brink of death! I don't even know if she's still alive, Obi-Wan!"

"Anakin, you know that Ahsoka is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."

"How do I know if she's fine or not? What if she got kidnapped by the Separatists? What if she's on a distant planet we don't even know about without food or drink? What if-"

"Said the Jedi who didn't even want a Padawan in the first place," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin sighed and rolled his eyes. This wasn't helping. He turned around and tried to look out at the stars, but Obi-Wan wouldn't leave him alone.

"You must have patience, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, trying to console his ex-student. "Focus, concentrate, and the Force will help you find her eventually."

Anakin decided to take Obi-Wan's advice. He closed his eyes and tried to meditate, feel Ahsoka's aura. He didn't have to do this for long, though.

"General Skywalker, over here!" a clone called out. Him and Obi-Wan dashed over to where a clone was sitting with a computer in front of him. On the screen was a blinking green light on a new planet which couldn't have been in their galaxy. That green light _had_ to be Ahsoka!

"We've got a lock on Ahsoka's comlink," the clone said. "She's on a planet called..." The clone popped up the name of the planet. He leaned forward and squinted, but was still struggling to pronounce the name.

"E-Earth?" He ended up pronouncing it as Eearth. The planet was mostly blue, with large patches of land visible, although the green that made up most of them was slowly disappearing, replaced by a sickly brown color.

"Earth..." Anakin wondered out loud.

"That's where Ahsoka is," Obi-Wan added.

"It's where she is," the clone said, spinning around to look at Anakin and Obi-Wan. "But it might be tough to get there."

"What do you mean, trooper?"

"I mean it's not even in our galaxy. It's located in someplace called the Milky Way."

"So, you mean to tell me that Ahsoka's ship was hit with a missile during that one fight with the Separatists, and did so much damage that she crashed down not only on a different planet but an _entirely different galaxy_!?" Anakin sounded more concerned than ever.

"Yes," the clone replied.

"Calm yourself, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Ahsoka has proven herself capable of surviving a tough situation in the past. And anyway, you should know. You're her master. As long as she hasn't revealed our existence to anyone, we'll all be fine."

Anakin sighed. "Alright," he said. "We should leave for Earth soon, though."

"You'd have to," the clone said. "Says here that it'll take weeks to travel to Earth from where we are now."

"Then let's gather up some troopers and then Anakin and I will begin our long trek," Obi-Wan said, and began to walk away to round up a group of clones when Anakin said, "Master, stay here."

"What?"

"You said it yourself: she's my Padawan. I'll go to Earth with some troopers and get Ahsoka back-"

"Anakin, you don't even know if there are any dangerous life forms down there, if any life forms at all!"

"**I don't care!**" Anakin said. "I'm willing to take that risk...for Ahsoka."

With that, Anakin walked away to gather some men for the trip, leaving Obi-Wan alone at the head of the ship.


	8. Chapter 8: Meeting Faith

Chapter 8: Meeting Faith

Mindy grabbed her fish off the fire and took a large bite. Then she grabbed the other fish and handed it to Ahsoka.

"Here," she said. Ahsoka took it.

"Thanks," she replied, and took a much smaller bite than her newfound blonde friend. "So, tell me about this friend of yours, Mindy," Ahsoka said.

"Well, her name is Faith," Mindy began. "Faith Long. She's been my closest friend for years, despite the fact we didn't even go to the same school together. Whenever we hung out and someone walked past us and made fun of me, Faith would come to my defense every time, physically, verbally, any way. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was my best friend and I didn't ever want it to change!" Mindy's happiness quickly turned into sadness. "Of course, we lost contact with each other when..." She trailed off. "We haven't seen or talked to each other since."

"She sounds like a cool person," Ahsoka said.

"She is," Mindy replied, as she took a bite of cereal she had in a bowl in front of her. "She's really nice and understanding. And I'll finally get to see her again today!"

Ahsoka smiled, and took a bite of some pancakes Mindy had made for her.

"There is one thing, Ahsoka."

"What?"

"We can't let your identity leak out into the world."

"That makes sense."

"I mean, it happens all the time in the movies; the people discover the alien that the main kid is friends with, they capture it in order to do supposed 'research' on it, and in the process, that alien eventually dies," Mindy replied.

"Wow," Ahsoka said. "Do life forms from other galaxies really come here that often?"

Mindy chuckled slightly. "No, it's only in movies...most of the time. Except for now, obviously. "

"So, what are we gonna do?" Ahsoka asked.

"We're gonna whip up a disguise for you convincing enough to get into Faith's house," said Mindy. "Faith may be a kind and trusting person but you'll need to watch out for her mom."

"How come?"

"If she catches you as you are right now, then all that stuff I described earlier may happen," said Mindy.

"Well, then we gotta come up with something convincing," said Ahsoka. "What have you got?"

"Hold on," Mindy replied. "I have a jacket with a hood here." She got up, picked up a dark red hoodie from the picnic bench and brought it over. "Try this on," she said, handing the hoodie to Ahsoka. Ahsoka did as she was told, and the hoodie fit nearly perfectly. It covered Ahsoka's face, for the most part, with only the tips of her head tails hanging out from under the hood.

"Think this'll be good?" Ahsoka asked.

"Hmm..." Mindy looked Ahsoka up and down carefully. "I think so, but just in case..." Mindy picked up a hair band from the picnic table bench and handed it to Ahsoka. "Here. Tie your head tails back with this. I don't think you'll actually need this, but I don't wanna take any chances."

"Right. I understand," Ahsoka replied. She did as she was told once again. When she was done, her head tails were no longer stuck out, and instead looked like dyed white hair tied back in a ponytail.

"How's this?" Ahsoka inquired.

"That's good," Mindy said. "Until we get to Faith's house, you should be able to blend into a crowd."

"Good," Ahsoka said. "What time is it?"

Mindy glanced at her iPhone. "10:45," she said. "We should probably head out soon. You finished with your breakfast yet?"

"Just about," Ahsoka said.

"Okay, then, let's go," Mindy said as she put her plate aside and stood up.

"How do we get there?" Ahsoka asked. "On that thing over there?" She gestured to the motorcycle Mindy had used to get away from Josh 4 months ago, which was now lying on the ground of the campsite, rotting away.

"You mean the motorcycle?" Ahsoka nodded.

"No," Mindy replied. "That thing ran out of fuel once I got here and the next gas station isn't for miles."

"Oh," Ahsoka replied. "I guess we start walking then."

Mindy sighed. She hated long periods of walking, but what other choice did they have?

"Fine," she said. She grabbed her phone and they tore through the trees in the other direction towards Faith's house.

* * *

Ahsoka and Mindy stood on the front porch of an odd-looking house. At least, to Ahsoka it looked odd. This was the place, and they were completely out of breath.

"We're here," Mindy said, both excitedly and nervously. "You nervous?"

"A little," Ahsoka replied. "You?"

"Not really," said Mindy. "Actually, I'm kind of excited. I haven't seen Faith in so long. You're gonna like her so much, I promise!" She reached out her arm and knocked on the door.

"I'll be right there!" A voice called from inside. Faint footsteps could be heard from the inside of the house, getting closer and closer.

The door opened. It had been answered by a black girl. She was several inches taller than Mindy, a little chubby, and wore a black tank top with jean shorts. She was barefooted, and wore her dark hair up in an afro, held back only by a black headband which was barely visible from a distance. She wore a big, greeting smile, which turned even bigger when she saw Mindy. She spoke.

"Hey!" she said excitedly.

"Hey!" Mindy echoed back in the same tone of excitement, if not more.

The girl picked Mindy up and wrapped her in a hug. Mindy seemed uncomfortable at first, almost choked, but then loosened her arms and hugged back. Then the girl realized what she was doing, put Mindy down and apologized.

"It's been so long! How've you been?" the girl asked.

"Good," Mindy replied.

"What's been going on with you? I gotta know!" Just then, the girl noticed Ahsoka. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh," Mindy said. "This is-" They hadn't thought of a fake name!

"Uh..."

"It's... Alaina!" Mindy said quickly. "Yeah! Alaina! That's it! That's her name!"

"Nice to meet you, Alaina," the girl said. "I'm Faith."

So that was Faith. "Nice to meet you, too," Ahsoka smiled and nodded.

"Come on in, you guys!" Faith said. The girls entered. Mindy was right. Faith was really nice. Faith led Ahsoka and Mindy through a comfy-looking living room with a red velvet couch the same color of Ahsoka's normal outfit, a few windows, a glass coffee table covered with valuables and picture frames, even ones with sarcastic headings, and light green curtains in front of the windows, then a hallway with white walls and cabinets and doors of the same color, one door open ajar at the end of the hallway. It looked like the master bedroom from what Ahsoka saw through the crack. Finally, they reached a door on the right side. Faith opened the door leading to a room that was undoubtedly was her room. It had light purple walls, a bed in the corner of the room, a huge window right next to it, a desk cluttered with a variety of supplies on top of it, and right next to the desk, a large brown boudoir and a much smaller closet. Ahsoka felt comfortable in this room.

"You can just sit down anywhere," Faith said. So the two sat crisscrossed on the floor while Faith closed the door behind them.

"So, what's happened, Mindy? I remember you were having some trouble with your family," Faith asked once she sat down.

Mindy began. Ahsoka braced herself. She started at the night she ran away from her parents, not mentioning anything about her ability tumor. When it got to be too much for Mindy to continue - although the tears did not come this time, just a bit of sobbing - Ahsoka continued for her. And when they were done, Faith sat for a moment, almost uncomprehending.

"Oh, my God," Faith said. "You've been through a lot since last time, Mindy. I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"It's fine," Mindy said, trying and failing to cover up her sadness. "It's all in the past now. Anyway, I'm not the one we're here for."

"What do you mean?"

"Ahsoka," Mindy said, as she turned to her Togruta friend. "You can take off the disguise now."

Almost as if taking an order from her Master, Ahsoka removed her hood and the hair tie from her head tails, letting them fall into their usual place. She unzipped the hoodie, slipped it off, and let it fall to the floor behind her, revealing her normal outfit. Faith was shocked and confused, to say the least.

"Mindy, what's going on?" Faith asked, and turning to Ahsoka continued. "Who are you? _What_ are you? I wanna know right now!"

"Alright." Ahsoka took a breath and began. "My real name is Ahsoka Tano. I am the Padawan of Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker..." Ahsoka told her entire story to Faith of how she came to be friends with Mindy, and when she finished, it took a moment for Faith to respond.

"Sooo...you're an alien?" She asked after a minute.

"Well..." Ahsoka replied hesitantly.

"Technically speaking, yes, she is an alien," Mindy said on Ahsoka's behalf.

Faith chuckled. "Cool!" she said.

"Wait, so you're not mad?" Mindy asked.

"No!" Faith replied. "This is the coolest thing ever, having an alien in your house, and more importantly, getting it to be your friend! And any friend of Mindy's is a friend of mine, too. Don't worry, Ahsoka. Your secret's safe with me."

Ahsoka nodded in gratitude. "However," Faith continued. "If you're gonna be living on Earth for a while, you're gonna need a good disguise, because _this_-" she gestured to Ahsoka's outfit. "-isn't gonna cut it."

"That's why I came here with Ahsoka, because, as you can see, my costuming skills are definitely not...spectacular." Mindy said, giggling slightly about halfway through before regaining her composure and continuing. "I know that you're much better than me at makeup, and fashion and all that jazz. Do you think you could help us come up with something convincing?"

"Definitely!" Faith replied. "I mean, who knows how long Ahsoka's going to be on Earth, or if she's ever even going away at all?"

"Exactly," Ahsoka said. "If anything, I know that my Master is looking for me, but I don't even know how long it will take until I'm found. It may be only a couple days, or years."

"Yes," said Faith. "So we better get moving."

For the rest of the day, the girls worked hard to come up with a disguise for Ahsoka that would convince anyone they came across that she was a human just like the rest of them. The Togruta Padawan tried on various outfits and accessories until they found something perfect. Faith was able to create a wig that would fit perfectly over Ahsoka's head tails, as well as conceal them, and would feel good at the same time. She also came up with a makeup pattern for her face that completely covered up the white marks on her face, while also looking totally natural. Occasionally, Mindy had pitched in to help and even Ahsoka offered up a few suggestions, but it was mainly Faith who had the inspiration.

Hours later, they were done. Faith and Mindy stood back to see what they had accomplished. Ahsoka looked absolutely amazing. She had on a brown wig that completely concealed her head tails. The makeup on her face was flawless, and blended in perfectly with the rest of her skin, which had been left alone. She had on, instead of her usual outfit, a dark red cardigan the same color of her original outfit and a vibrantly purple tank top under it. For pants she wore a pair of light-colored skinny jeans, but kept her original boots on. Her gloves were also off now, but Faith had painted her fingernails black in order to fill any sort of void that was there. She looked like any other ordinary teenage girl. Nobody would have guessed that she was a Padawan training under Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker in a galaxy far, far away.

"Perfect!" Faith declared. "You look FABULOUS!"

Ahsoka smiled. "Thank you, Faith," she said graciously.

"You really do look great, Ahsoka," Mindy said. "You'll fit right in."

"Told you!" Faith replied. "Now, make sure whenever you go out in public or you come here, you're wearing this disguise. Got that, Ahsoka?"

"Got it," Ahsoka replied.

"Well, we better go, Ahsoka," Mindy said. "It'll start to get dark soon, and plus, we don't want Faith's mom to notice."

"That's right," Faith added. "My mom's kinda wild about this stuff."

"Yeah," said Ahsoka. "Mindy told me a little bit about that before we got here."

"Oh, so you know?" asked Faith. Ahsoka nodded.

"Okay, then I don't need to explain to you why that would be really, _really_ bad," said Faith.

"Yeah, I understand," said Ahsoka.

"When can we see you again?" Mindy asked.

"Hmm..." Faith thought for a moment. "I don't know. I'll text you when I know what time I'll be free."

"Sounds good," Mindy replied. "We gotta go. Thanks again, Faith, for everything."

"Anytime. I'm always happy to help out a friend," Faith said, as she reached out and hugged Mindy first, then Ahsoka.

"Now, let me show you out." Faith opened the door to her room and held it open so that both girls could go out before her. Then she followed them out to the front door where the girls said one last goodbye before they were on their way.

* * *

The two girls kept each other occupied with conversation as they walked back to the forest. They were on a long empty stretch of road now that didn't look quite welcoming, and were squeezed to the side of the road in case of any unpredictable cars or trucks. Occasionally, Mindy would tell a joke and Ahsoka would chuckle at it, but they mainly kept it to just their personal lives or Mindy's fond memories of Faith.

"You were right, Mindy," Ahsoka said at one point. "Faith is really nice. I like her a lot!"

"I'm glad to hear that, Ahsoka," Mindy replied. "I honestly kinda knew you would."

Ahsoka chuckled a little again before she spotted something small in the distance. She stopped.

"What's that?" she asked.

Mindy followed her gaze. Farther down the road, she spotted what appeared to be a small animal, though it was barely visible even from a short distance.

"Hold on," Mindy said. "I'll try to see if I can spot it a little bit closer." Carefully, she approached the animal, and sure enough, when closer, was able to make out what it was.

Mindy gasped. "Aww, it's a cute little Chihuahua dog!" she exclaimed. "Hi, baby!" she cooed at the precious creature.

And the dog was absolutely precious. It had light brown fur with white on its paws, snout and tail. Being a Chihuahua, it had gigantic ears, but it also had big, compassionate eyes which could express a lot of emotion. It was very dirty, but was in fact, quite chubby, which either meant that it was lost, or that it was a stray that hadn't been out very long.

"A what?" Ahsoka asked, as she stepped up next to her friend.

Before Mindy could answer, a truck rolled along out of nowhere right into the poor little creature. Both girls jumped, and Mindy screamed a little. The sound that emitted from the Chihuahua sounded like a whimper, but it wasn't a whimper. It was a scream. The most shocking thing about the crime was that the driver of the truck didn't even stop to look at the damage he had done. He had stopped for a second or two, but probably figuring he went over a bump, kept right on going.

Immediately after the truck drove away, Mindy dashed over to the scene of the crime, with Ahsoka close behind.

The dog lay on the dirt road, whimpering, heaving, and sighing, trying to get a breath in. It was extremely injured, barely even alive. Mindy knelt down beside it and scooped it up in her arms like a baby.

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God," she whispered to herself. "It's okay, little one," she half-whispered to the dog, trying to console it. "You're gonna be okay." Yet she could not even console herself, as the tears were streaming down her face now, and she choked on her next words between sobs.

"Ahsoka, we gotta get this thing back to the campsite now!" Mindy sobbed as she stared at the poor thing down in her arms.

"What?!" Ahsoka exclaimed. "But what about the thing that ran it over?"

"**FORGET THE TRUCK!**" Mindy shouted. She sniffed. "Besides, it's probably long gone by now," she added, slightly calmer now.

"True," Ahsoka agreed.

"**C'MON! LET'S HURRY!**" Mindy exclaimed, carrying the dog in one arm and frantically pulling Ahsoka along with the other as the two sprinted as fast as they could back to the campsite.


End file.
